Writers Can Help Slow Global Warming 7 Ways

byAnne WaymanonApril 3, 2009

Every writer I know and know of is truly concerned about climate change which is certainly driven at least in part by human activity. If you’re like me you both grieve for the planet and fear for your children and grandchildren… or their contemporaries. It’s hard to know exactly how to make a difference, but here are some things you can do:

Turn off your computer! If you’re not going to be using it for the next hour or so, turn it off. Turn it off at night too. There’s no need to leave it on. This has an additional advantage of reducing the opportunity of hacking, particularly when you’re on the ‘net.

Turn off everything else you can. See all those glowing lights? While they add an almost immeasurable amount to your personal electric bill, taken together, some estimates say as much as .05% of the power in the country is used by those lights. Turn stuff off! If turning it off doesn’t do it, unplug it. (A power strip with an on/off switch can make this easier. – I finally got my computer equipment plugged into the same strip and it’s so easy now.)

Switch to compact fluorescents. Yes, if we all switched to compact fluorescents, we’d make a huge difference. And it turns out that the scare talk about mercury may be just that. Read the National Geographic News article called Fluorescent Lights’ Mercury Poses Dim Threat.By the way, I’ve always had trouble with flourescent lights – the old style in tubes, even in newer offices tend to give me a headache. The singles, however, particularly those in round globes don’t seem to bother me at all.

Use recycled paper in your printer. This is worth doing, although finding 100% recycled paper still isn’t as easy as it should be. Look for other paper products that are eco-friendly and be willing to spend extra for them.

Recycle printer cartridges. I recycle printer cartridges by taking them to Office Depot or Staples. Sometimes I get a discount on paper, sometimes not, but I know the cartridges won’t end up in a landfill. put my used cartridges in the glove box when they empty so I don’t have to try and remember to gather them when I take off to shop.

Buy yourself carbon neutral. None of us can stop using energy altogether – it’s not even a reasonable goal. But we can become carbon neutral by purchasing carbon credits. I’ve done it; you can too. I buy myself carbon neutral every year at Native Energy.

Write about ways people can help stop global warming. As writers, we have the opportunity to influence many people through our writing. So write about it. Then write or call your representative and senators, and your local government. Speak up.

Yeah, I rarely drive anymore, either, so I feel like that alone is a good way to reduce my carbon footprint. I just got back from southern CA (though I grew up there, it was my first time driving there). I totally forgot what it’s like to sit in traffic for an hour just to get off the freeway to go to the beach. I’ve never seen that many cars, so yeah, I’d say letting your car sit in the garage for a few days is huge for a SoCal resident. I also like to write about ways to go green, and the only paper I use was bought from the San Diego Zoo, which supposedly contributes money to the World Wildlife Fund, if that counts, lol.

Trina, the place I moved into a couple of months ago had a garden… I’ve been surprised by romaine lettuce, an artichoke, some green onions and there’s a compost bin.

George… good for you for being solar. And I do know that buying carbon credits doesn’t substitute for conservation… one of the reasons I like freelancing is I can leave my car in the garage two and three days a week… quite a statement for a southern Californian.

Hi Anne
Have a look at your last power bill and note the number of kW hours you used. Divide that by the number of days in the billing. I use 1.2kW hours per day. Most people can reduce their energy use by 30% and barely notice a difference, if they can’t knock off 30% they just aren’t trying.

Yes my computer is off when not in use. Mind you I live on solar power, no grid connection at all. 20 inch iMac. It uses 170 watts flat out, for just word processing it uses less than 100 watts.

Fluorescent lamps give you a headache because they run at 60Hz and they flicker at 60 times a second. Compact fluorescents run at anything up to 10000Hz and you r eyes can not detect the flicker at that rate.

Recycle everything.

Buying carbon credits is just a way to feel good about being wasteful, better way is to produce less carbon. We are carbon deficit , that is to say that we have 14 acres of trees so we produce less than we use.

I have written about using less energy for years. Most people read about it and say, “Yes, other people should use less”. I was a designer and installer of solar power systems for nearly 20 years.

Hi, Anne. Great article. I recycle my old Lexmark cartridges by sending them in little bags Lexmark supplies, postage-paid. After I send in a certain number of cartridges (I honestly don’t know how many right off-hand), I get one free. So, I save myself a little money and help save the planet. I also tell my family constantly to turn out lights, and shut doors. This year we are planting our own garden so we we have our own veggies next year. We are slowly replacing all our old bulbs with those cute little curly ones as they burn out, lol. We’re just trying to do our small part.